Japan Weighs Response to Putin’s Etorofu Visit, Official Says

Japan is weighing action against Russia after President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Russian-controlled, Japanese-claimed Etorofu Island, a senior Foreign Ministry official told reporters Friday, according to Kyodo News.

“We are considering what step to take going forward,” the official said. Kyodo reported that an additional sanction was believed to be under consideration but did not identify the source of that assessment. Virginia Times has not independently verified it.

Putin traveled to the island Thursday. It was his first trip to the disputed chain in either of his offices, as president or as prime minister, Kyodo reported.

Tokyo moved the same day. The Japanese government summoned Russian Ambassador Nikolay Nozdrev and lodged a strong protest, according to the report.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi wrote in a post on X that the Northern Territories are an inherent part of Japanese territory historically and under international law. A visit by a sitting Russian president is incompatible with Japan’s consistent position, she added.

We are considering what step to take going forward. — Senior Japanese Foreign Ministry official, via Kyodo News

The trip is unacceptable and hurts the feelings of the Japanese people, according to the post.

Japan has pressed Moscow to prevent such a visit since January 2024, when Putin said he would definitely go. In Takaichi’s assessment, the trip has hardened Japanese public sentiment toward Russia and set back any medium- to long-term recovery in ties.

Russia rejected the protest. Its embassy in Tokyo called the objection unfounded and said the southern Kurils became part of Russia legitimately after World War II, the Associated Press reported.

Dmitry Medvedev responded on X. The islands “were, are, and will remain Russian land,” wrote the deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, who in 2010 became the first Russian head of state to set foot on them, at Kunashiri.

Putin made the same argument Wednesday, saying World War II settled the question. He also criticized Japan for what he called unprovoked sanctions over Ukraine, and for naming Russia a threat, Kyodo reported.

On the island, which Russia calls Iturup, he kept to a civic itinerary — a fish-processing plant, a hospital, a school, a stop among local residents, according to the Russian government.

Four islands are at stake: Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and the Habomai islet group. Japan’s position is that the Soviet Union took them illegally soon after the surrender. Moscow calls the seizure legitimate.

No postwar peace treaty has ever been signed. Under former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Takaichi’s political mentor, Japan sought closer ties with Moscow in hopes of settling the dispute. Abe met Putin 27 times before leaving office in 2020.

The two agreed in 2018 to accelerate treaty talks based on a 1956 joint declaration between Japan and the Soviet Union. That document called for handing over Shikotan and the Habomai islet group once a treaty was signed.

Talks stopped after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, and relations fell further when Japan joined U.S.-led sanctions against Moscow. Prospects for resuming them remain dim, Kyodo reported.